Method of making well points



1,625,340 Ap l 19 r T. c. THOMAS METHOD OF MAKING WELL POINTS File March 1926 4 sheets-sheet 1 ff A: MI 29 w 36 F 37 /Z ,2 L ,6, i g9 36 April 19, 1927. 1,625,340

T. c. THOMAS METHOD OF MAKING WELL POINTS FileQ Mar h 1 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 3' Edy. Z5?

PF 36 1;;W '7 I 36 5? //V VE/VTOE 2 50mm? 0277017765:

HTTORNEYS 1,625,340 April 1927' T. c. THOMAS METHOD OF MAKING WELL POINTS Fild March 1a, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 6 lNVE/VTUR w T/VESS 1 Br W 4 mm 19 Apnl 27 T. c. THOMAS METHOD OF MAKING WELL POINTS Filed March 13, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Apr. 19, 1927.

UNlTED STATES PATENT FFICE.

THOMAS C. THOMAS, OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE YOUNGSTOWN SHEET AND TUBE COMPANY, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

. METHOD or MAKING WELL POINTS.

- Application filed March 13, 1926. Serial no. 94,564.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of that class of well points having atapering head or point integral with the tube or shank of the well point, a principal object of the intention being to provide a novel 'method of forming the heads as well as a machine adapted for the satisfactory, economical and e'fiicient performance of the said method.

I" The invention further includes various other objects, features and characteristics to which reference is hereinafter more partlc-u- 'larly made orwhich will be apparent'from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof.

In said drawings Fig. 1 is a view of the machine partially in side elevation and partially in" vertical section on line 11 of ig.

5 looking in the direction of the arrows and wifh the parts in initial position, that is, in the position in which they are disposed just prior to the machine being put into operation. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section on line of Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the arrows with the parts in the same position as in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary. View corresponding to Fig. 1 but showing the parts in final position, that is, the position in has been operated to form the head of the well point, and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view corresponding to Fig. 2 but showing the parts in such final position. Fig. 5' is afragmentary front elevation of the machine as shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 a vertical section on line G6 in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, and Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the jaw actuating cross. head re- -10 moved from the machine. Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are respectively a side elevation, a front elevation and an end elevation of the jaw A removed from the machine, this jaw being similar to its complementary jaw A, and Figs. 11, 12 and 13 are views respectively corresponding to Figs. 8, 9 and 10 but showing jaw B which is similar to its complementary jaw B, jaws A. A and B, B' being respectively arranged in oppositely disposed paired relation in the machine as will hereinafter more fully appear. In, Fig. 14 I have shown a blank on an enlarged scale from which a well point is to be formed by he action of the machine and ready for introdu ction in the latter, and Fig. 15 I formation of anintegral head upon the end which they are disposed after the machine have shown a well point as it appears after it has been formed by the machine. The same symbols are used to designate the same parts in the several figures.

My improved method contemplates the of a pipe or tube by first upsetting the end thereof so that it will present a hollow cross section preferably of, greater external and internal diameter than the corresponding diameter of the pipe and then progressively applying about the'exterior perimeter thereof an-increasing, radial inwardly directed pressure to effect a consolidation and progressive cross sectional reduction of said upset portion, with resulting formationof an elongatedtapering point, solid for a considerable distance in the rear of its smaller extremity and hollow in the vicinity of its juncture with the shank of the well'point. This method of forming well point heads I believe to be broadly new and I therefore do not desire to limit myself solely to the use of the machine now to be described for effecting its performance although I have found under practical conditions of operation that the saidmachine is welhadapted therefor; moreover, while the said method lends itself to the production of well point heads of both polygonal and circular cross section, it is particularly adapted for the production ofthe former, and I shall therefore herein refer more particularly to one form of ma- -chine intended for the production of tapering well point heads of octagonal cross-section in accordance with the principles of said method.

The said machine as illustrated in the accompanying drawings comprises a rectangular frame having abottom 1, top 2, sides 3 and 4 and a back era-ear wall 5, being open at the front opposite-the rear wall. This frame may be supported in any convenient manner as on a base orpedestal 6 which I have shown as of conventional design, its particular configuration being a matter of choice. The top, bottom and side walls of the frame are each provided with a pair of inwardly directed spaced lugs respectively designatedas 11,'2'2, 33, 4',4 in correspondence with the designations of the walls to which they are attached and with which they are preferably integral. Each pair of lugs is symmetrically disposed vwith respect to a plane passing through middle point of the adjacent portion of the frame and is drilled transversely for the passage of a pivot pin 7, these pins being respectively base 11 conveniently in the form of a symmetrical cross at each corner of which are disposed forwardly projecting lugs extending at right angles to each other and transversely drilled for the passage of pins 12. The width of the arms of the base is such that the space between the lugs on the opposite sides of each arm is just suflicient to snugly receive one of the jaws, each of which beside being drilled as at 13 for the passage of the pivot pin is also provided with a slot-14 for the passage of the pin 12, this slot being of sufficient width to accommod'ate the pin and of Sutlicient length to prevent the pin from binding on the ends of the slot when the jaw is swung about the pivot pin 7. Preferably the cross head is cast. or otherwise formed as an integral unit and provided with an internally threaded bore at the center of its base for the reception of the correspondingly threaded end of a piston rod 15 which extends rearwardly through a hole in the'wall 5 and through the medium of which power is supplied to the head so as to move the jaws.

For actuating the piston rod a piston 16 is mounted on the outer end thereof and disosed in a suitable closed cylinder 17 which is bolted to and supported from a housing 18 secured to the rear wall of the frame, the rod, where it enters the front end of the cylinder, preferably extending through a stuffing box having an adjustable gland 19 and operative to prevent leakage around the rod, the housing being provided with holes 20 to afford convenient. access to the gland. As the stuffing box may be of any desired form and construction, further description thereof would be superfluous. The cylinder 17 may be provided with pipes 21 and 22 through which steam, air or other suitable fluid may be admitted alternately to the ends of the cylinder so as to reciprocate the piston therein to move the cross head and cause the jaws to simultaneously turn on the, pivot pins 7 It will, however, be understood that while means of the general character of those which I have shown and just described are satisfactorily operative to effect the desired movement of the jaws with suflicient power to cause the latter to perform their intended function as hereinafter explained, various other means may be employed for the purpose should it be so desired, the ultimate end to be effected being the application to the jaws through the medium of pins 12 or equivalent means of a powerful thrust in a tel-part so that a description of one of them is equally applicable. to the other. As shown, each of these jaws comprises a front edge or face ZS-and rear edge or face 26, which may extend in more or less parallel relation, and an end face 27 at the extremity of the jaw opposite to that which is bored at 13 for the passage of pivot pin 7. This end face 27 is curved on an are which is concentric with the bore 13 and upon this face and extending above its surface from one cndlhereof to the other is disposed a rib 28 preferably slightly narrower in width than the end face 27 so that a narrow shoulder is formed on each side of the rib at the base thereof. The end face 29 of the rib, however, which forms the operative face of the jaw, is not concentric with the bore 13 but is curved rearwardly from the edge 25 to the edge 26 on an arc whose center is somewhat offset from the center of the bore 13, in consequence of which the edge 26 of the jaw is somewhat longer than the edge 25.

In Figs. 11, 12 and 13 I have illustrated the jaw B of which jaw B is a counterpart so that the following description is equally applicable to either of these aws. The body of this jaw corresponds in shape and size to that of jaw A and similarly thereto has a front edge or face 30, rear edge of face 31 and an end face 32 which follows an arc whose center of curvature coincides with the center of the bore 13. Also, as in the case of jaws A. A, a rib 33 is disposed on the end face 32 which rib at its end adjacent edge 30 is of substantially the same width as rib 28 and is curved rearwardly from said end toward the edge 31. Instead. however, of the sides of the rib being parallel as in the case of rib 28, the sides of the rib 33 may converge inwardly from front to rear (see Fig. 13) while the operative face of the rib instead of being flat as in the case of rib 28 is provided with a groove of polygonal cross section of greatest size at the front end of the rib and of smallest size at the rear end thereof, so that the said operative face of the rib is substantially in the form of a .trough or groove of decreasing size, that is, tapereaseao' ing, from front to rear, with its bottom 34 curved from front to rear on the same. are

as the operative face'29 of the rib 28 and its edges 35 curved on a slightly different. are so that the groove is deeper at the front than at the rear.

\Vhen intended for the production of well point heads of octagonal cross section, the operative faces of jaws B, B .will be formed to present, as shown in the drawings, a groove having three faces, that is, a bottom 34 andoppositely and angularly disposed faces 36 each of which, as will be apparent from the foregoing description, is tapered from front to. rear. Thus when the jaws are operatively assembled in the machine with jaws A, A in oppositely disposed paired relation and jaws B, B in similarly paired relation as best shown in Fig. 5. a symmetrical octagonal opening 0 will be defined by the proximate o 'ierating faces of the jaws, three sides of said opening being bounded byeach of the jaws B, B and one side thereof by each of the jaws A, A, the center of the opening being equidistant from the pivotal axes of the several jaws. When the jaws are in initial position this opening is defined and completely boundedby the front ends of the operating faces and is thus of maximum size, but as the jaws move inwar dly toward a common center from such position to final posit-ion. the'opening, by reason of the longitudinal curvature of the faces drom front to rear on an arc eccentrically disposed with respect to the pivotal axis of each jaw as hitherto described, becomes gradually smaller, so that when the movement of the jaws is completed, the opening is defined and completely bounded by the rear ends of the operating faces and is of minimum size.

The machine having been constructed and assembled substantially as described and suitable arrangements made for admitting fluid to the cylinder so as to reciprocate the piston, the operation of the machine in the production of a well point head of polygonal cross section in accordance with my improved method is as follows: The endof the pipe or tube from whichthe well point is'to be made is first upset in any suitable manner so as to bring the end of the tube to hollow polygonal form, preferably with an internal and external diameter in excess of that of the corresponding diameters of the pipe. and with a number of plane faces extending parallel to the axis of the tube cor responding to the number of faces which the head of the well point is to have, for example, eight, each of these faces being substantially equal to the greatest width of any of the operative faces, as 3% or 36, of the jaws B, B. A blank of this general character is illustrated in Fig. 14.

The upset end of the blank, being heated to a suitable temperature to render it semiplastic and readily workable, is then inserted in the opening 0 defined by the proximate operative faces of the jaws when in initial position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and power applied to the piston in a direction to move the jaws forward about their respective pivots, thus bringing a simultaneous pressure on each of the faces of the upset end of the blank directed inwardly and radially with respect thereto and progressively in creasing as the jaws move outwardly. Additionally it will be apparent that during the. movement of the jaws and owing to the longitudinal rearward curvature of their operative faces along arcs which are eccentrically disposed with respect to their pivotal axes, a camming action is exerted on the blank as well, the several forces so applied by the jaws resulting in the consolidation of the upset open-ended portion of the blank into an elongated tapering point, solid for a considerable distance in rear of its smaller cxtremity and having tapering faces in munber equal to that of the blank. the size of the head or point where it joins the tube corresponding substantially with the size of the opening 0 defined between the jaws when in initial position, the size of the smaller end corresponding substantially to the. size of the opening defined by the jaws in final position and the length of the head substantially corresponding to the length of the operative faces of the jaws when developed into a' plane.

\Vhile it, is sometimes possible to com- 'pletely form the head by a single movement of the jaws from initial to final position, it

is ordinarily requisite to impart to the jaws a series of successive reciprocating movements to fully form the head, the blank between each forward movement of the jaws being pushed inwardly toward the rear of the machine as its cross sectional area is progressively reduced. Thus if the jaws are reciprocated relatively rapidly their successive contacts with the blank produce in effect a series of rapid blows with the result that the formation of the point is completed in a very short space of time after the introduction of the blank into the machine.

Although the machine which I have illustrated and described herein is particularly intended for the production of well point heads of polygonal cross section. it may be readily adapted for the production, in accordance with my improved method of well herein employed certain terms such as front,

rear, top, bottom and the like, the same are used solely in a relative as distinguished from a limiting sense and are to be read accordingly.

Moreover, while to enable those skilled in the art to readily comprehend and practice the invention, I have herein described my improved process and one form of machine adapted for its performance with considerable-particularity, I do not thereby intend to limit myself to the use of any specific form of means or apparatus for performing the process nor, when a machine of the general character of that to which I have referred is used therefor, to any specific de tails of form, arrangement or construction of the parts thereofas thesaid machine may be modified'in certain particulars to better adapt it for employment under given operative conditions or with a view to producing well point heads of dilierent shapes or for other reasons as may be desired, without departing from the spirit and scope of the illyention as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. The method of forming well point heads which comprises upsetting the end of a pipe or tube so that said upset portion presents a greater diameter than the pipe,

and then applying to the exterior surface I of said upset portion increasing radial inwardly directed pressure to effect consolidation and progressive cross sectional reduc tion of said upset portion with resulting formation of an elongated tapering point, solid at its smaller extremity.

2. The method of forming an integral head on the shankof a well point which comprises the steps of upsetting the end of a pipe or tube so as to increase its exterior and interior diameter above the corresponding diameters of the ipe, and then applying to the exterior sur ace of said upset portion a progressively increasing, radial, inwardly directed pressure to thereby effect a progressive consolidation and cross sectional reduction of said portion with resulting formation of said portion into an elongated tapering point solid at its-smaller extremity,

solidate said portion into an elongated tapering head solid at its smaller end and hollow adjacent its larger.

4. The method of forming a tapering integral head of polygonal cross section on the shank of a well point which comprises the steps of upsetting the end of the pipe or tube which is to form the shank so that said upset portion will present a hollow polygonal cross section and then simultaneously applying to the exterior surface of each of the faces of said portion an inwardly directed radial pressure to, effect consolidation and progressive cross sectional reduction of said portion.

5. The method of forming a tapering integral head of polygonal cross section on the shank of a well point which comprises the steps of upsetting the end of the pipe or tube which is to form the shank so that said the shank of a well point which comprises the steps of upsetting'the end of the pipe or tube which is to form the shank so that said upset portion will present a hollow polygonal cross section of greater exterior and exterior diameters than the corresponding diameters of the pipe and then simultaneously subjecting all of the exterior faces of said upset portion, initially at the open end of said portion and thereafter progressively toward the opposite end thereof, to

radial, inwardly directed, progressively increasing pressure to thereby efi'ect consolidationand progressive cross sectional reduction of said portion and form the same into an elongated tapering point solid at it? smallerextremity and hollow adjacent its juncture with the pipe.

7; The method of forming well, point heads which comprises the steps of upsetting the end of a pipe or tube so as to increase its exterior and interior diameters above the corresponding diameters of the pipe, and then compressing said upset portion by applying, initially at its open end and then progressively, toward its opposite end, radially inwardly directed pressure at all points about its perimeter to thereby form and consolidate said upset portion into an elongated tapering head.

In witness whereofrI have hereunto set my hand this 2d day of March, 1926.

THOMAS o. T OMAS:

v v A Certificate of Correction. fPetent-No. 1,625,340. r Granted April 19, 1927, .to

I A) I THOMAS C. THOMAS.- :11. isfhereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 4, line 101, claim 6, for the f {word "exterior read interior; andthat the said Letters Patent should be read iwith thiscorreetion therein that the same may conform to the record of the case flin the Patent Oflice, r I Signed and sealed this; 10th day of May, A. I). 1927.

- [sm;,.:] M. J. MOORE,

. 'Aotz'ng Gammissioner of Patents. 

